"So… Wizard sports, huh?" Besides all the people standing in line in front of him having a deer-in-the-headlights kind of look on their faces, the huge shadow suddenly blocking the sunlight on his back gave Harry a clue as to who/what was behind him.
As he turned around, his suspicions were confirmed. It was the dragon. The talking dragon. It- he? was looking at the group of wizards in the middle of the Quidditch field, head titled to the side in contemplative curiosity. Every one of the people behind Harry was probably shaking in their metaphorical boots.
"Uuh, yeah…" he could only respond awkwardly to the creature. He seemed bigger up close; compared to the dragon he had to face in the Triwizard Tournament, it wasn't so bad. But still, this one was still bigger than Hagrid, and those sharp claws didn't look like they were just for the sake of aesthetics.
"I watched a bit of the world cup championship for this thing." Okay, Harry was not ashamed to admit at that point that he was openly staring. "Gotta admit, it was pretty cool to watch." The dragon continued, red tail flicking behind. "But I can't say I got the whole gist of it. Too many rules to remember." Was that a grimace on the creature's face? "Although, I didn't really have that much time to learn about it either. AmDrag duties and all, I usually don't even have time for sleep,not to mention homework."
"Homework?" Harry's eyebrows shot up at that. "You have homework? What for?"
The dragon let out a snort. It's voice and mannerisms were surprisingly… human. "Dude, I might be big and scaly sometimes, but I do have school too. So yeah, homework. Although none of the things you've got here. But I guess Potions is kinda like HomeEc, heh… I got Gym too, though the broomsticks are the janitor's. And I had a Mythology class in middle school, but the teacher's completely bogus at and he hated my guts to boot. But I haven't got anything cool like Defense against the Dark Arts or anything, just the usual boring stuff like Math, English, oh and Biology too..."
"You're in a Muggle school?" Harry couldn't help but interrupt the rambling dragon with his outburst. "But- why? How?"
The creature shrugged. "Beats me. Seriously, that's what every kid asks themselves about any class they have to take, amirite? Gotta have an education, I guess. Just like you guys." Harry saw in the corner of his eye the rest of the students in various postures of confusion mixed with disbelief. Everyone was too weirded out to stay scared anymore.
"Sorry, I don't wanna be rude." The creature's big head lowered to look him in the eye and the messy-haired boy swallowed apprehensively. Curiosity gnawed in Harry's head at what the dragon had just revealed, regardless of how dangerous it might be to pry. "How… how old are you really?"
Thedragon did not seem the slightest bit insulted. He promptly answered "Oh, I'm sixteen." There was a moment of pause before a series of outburst came out from the group and the dragon (who apparently wasn't even a legal adult yet?) just lowered himself onto his belly, sitting on the grass like a sphinx, a look on his face like he just realized something. "Oh right, I forget that it's not so obvious when I'm like this." (Like what? Harry wondered silently. He didn't pry further, but took note of it.) "So yeah, the big scary dragon is a teenager, who would've thought?" The dragon chuckled. "Man, you should see your faces. If you wanna know, I'm a Pisces too."
…
Harry grew up in the Muggle world. Even if he did find out that magic was a real thing only six years ago, he had adapted pretty nicely to the notion. So why would it be so hard to believe the fact that a sixteen-year-old dragon (who went to a Muggle school, apparently) just told him (in an American accent) his zodiac sign?
Since this was a thing that just happened. Still happening, in a way. The creature was still in front of them.
"Okay dude, sorry for the interruption." Harry jumped at that, caught off guard at the dragon's jump between topics. "You were doing practice, right? Your soccer on broomsticks or whatever."
The boy shook his head, realizing that their original plan had been delayed by their unusual guest. "Oh, uh yeah. Quidditch." He couldn't even muster up the energy to feel insulted by the way the creature had called his favorite sport. He was still in shock over how… shamelessly Muggle-ish the dragon acted.
"Sweet!" he piped in cheerfully. "So you're the team captain, huh? Can I watch?" that last question kind of threw Harry in for a loop. Harmless and friendly as he seemed, the winged creature could be a big distraction for them. Heck, he had distracted them all already with his presence alone, not to mention the revelation that… "C'mooon, please!" the dragon pleaded, and much to their shock, practically bounced on his toes."I promise I'll stay outta the way. You won't even know I'm here." It wasn't like Harry could stop him, big powerful creature as he was. He wasn't even expecting him to try and ask for anyone's permission in the first place. The dragon lowered his head at Harry's lack of response, face sad and close to sulking. "I'm just so bored right now I don't know what to do with myself."
"I…" Harry had to admit, this school year was just getting weirder and weirder. He could bet Oliver Wood never had to deal with anything of this caliber. "Okay, but please no interruptions. And please stay far away enough so you don't distract us, alright?"
The creature rose excitedly on its four limbs, wings half-unfolding, toothy grin in place. "Sure thing, no problem! I'll just get out of your way then!" He looked like an excited puppy with that expression on his face, regardless of the too-many teeth he flashed. "Thanks, captain!" The dragon winked at the entire group, wishing them all good luck, and then flew quickly towards the audience seat towers.
"What in the bloody hell did just happen?" Ron muttered, eloquently voicing the rest of the team's thoughts.
Harry could only stare at the moving red spot, flustered, feeling a slight blush creeping up his neck at the dragon's use of his title. Harry had been proud of himself when he got it, but having others acknowledge his accomplishments and treating him accordingly meant more than the boy realized himself sometimes.
Looks like their guest understood, and Harry was thankful for that.